Warsaw Stock Exchange Becomes Latest SSE Partner

On December 17, 2013, the Warsaw Stock Exchange published the new portfolio of the socially responsible company index RESPECT. In the seventh edition of the project, 23 companies listed on the Main Market have been successfully verified for parameters of corporate social responsibility and put in the index portfolio. They include the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

“We initiated the RESPECT Index project in 2009 and have since acknowledged companies which work with dedication and integrity for responsible and sustainable business according to their strategies. We are honoured that the Warsaw Stock Exchange is now part of that elite group. As a public company, we have aspired to join the index for a number of years and made great efforts to comply with the highest CSR standards. However, we realise that participation in the RESPECT Index is a great responsibility towards the entire market and our stakeholders; therefore, we are planning further committed development in favour of responsible business,” said Beata Jarosz, Vice-President of the Management Board of WSE.

This commitment has been substantiated by the declaration signed by WSE representatives at the ceremony announcing the new RESPECT Index portfolio. The Warsaw Stock Exchange has joined the exchanges partnered with the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative whose signatories agree to support corporate social responsibility and sustainable development on their home capital markets.

“On behalf of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, I am very happy to welcome today the Warsaw Stock Exchange’s public commitment to promote sustainable business practices among its listed companies. The Warsaw exchange is an important regional exchange and the first exchange from Central and Eastern Europe to join the SSE. We applaud their proactive approach to sustainability issues,” said Elodie Feller Co-coordinator of the SSE who accepted the declaration of WSE.

The SSE initiative was founded in 2009 by the United Nations to exchange experience of partners in the development and promotion of corporate social responsibility and responsible investment among investors, listed companies, regulators and capital market infrastructure institutions.

WSE is the ninth exchange to join SSE, the first SSE participant in Central and Eastern Europe and the first European participant other than exchange groups. The SSE partners are NYSE Euronext, NASDAQ OMX, Borsa Istanbul, BM&FBBovespa (Brazil), the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Egyptian Exchange, the Johannesburg Exchange, and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.